Yon means yonder or that. O'erhead is a contraction of overhead.
Analysis
The poem starts out at sun set, then it becomes dark, the lighthouse comes on at the beach and becomes a street-lamp for the ocean. I think it has an idealistic view because it says in his latest beams, and makes me think that he is referring to a god. I also think it could be referring that death is similar to a sunset because in the last two lines it says to some the gravestone of delight, to some the landmark of a new domain. I think this because some people think that once you are dead, you have no other life. Some people may say the sun will rise again, but never on the same day. Other people think that there is life after death, which would be saying something similar to the sun will rise again, maybe not on the same day, but in the same lifetime.
There is a rhyming pattern in the poem of ABBAABBA, then in the second part of the poem the rhyming pattern changes completely to CDECDE. I think this separates the first half of the poem from the second half of the poem. I think the first half of the poem is talking more about the experience of being at the beach when the sun set. The second half is taking more about how it was a beautiful summer day, but it was also very sad at the same time.
I also think he is saying that to some people the ocean or sea is a very old experience and has already been explored, and to others it is a new place to explore and learn about. Some people may see history the same way. There are already a lot of things that we do know about; however, there are some things that we are completely unsure about and are interested to learn more.
Biography
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote lyric poems. These poems often told stories of mythology and legend.
Lauren Bafford
A Summer Day By The Sea
The sun is set; in his latest beams
Yon little cloud of ashen grey and gold,
Slowly upon the amber air unrolled,
The falling mantle of the Prophet seems.
From the dim headlands many a light-house gleams,
The street-lamps of the ocean; and behold,
O'erhead the banners of the night unfold;
The day hath passed onto the land of dreams.
O summer day next to the joyous sea!
O summer day so wonderful and white
So full of gladness and so full of pain!
Forever and forever shalt thou be
To some the gravestone of a dead delight,
To some the landmark of a new domain.
Vocabulary
Yon means yonder or that.
O'erhead is a contraction of overhead.
Analysis
The poem starts out at sun set, then it becomes dark, the lighthouse comes on at the beach and becomes a street-lamp for the ocean. I think it has an idealistic view because it says in his latest beams, and makes me think that he is referring to a god. I also think it could be referring that death is similar to a sunset because in the last two lines it says to some the gravestone of delight, to some the landmark of a new domain. I think this because some people think that once you are dead, you have no other life. Some people may say the sun will rise again, but never on the same day. Other people think that there is life after death, which would be saying something similar to the sun will rise again, maybe not on the same day, but in the same lifetime.
There is a rhyming pattern in the poem of ABBAABBA, then in the second part of the poem the rhyming pattern changes completely to CDECDE. I think this separates the first half of the poem from the second half of the poem. I think the first half of the poem is talking more about the experience of being at the beach when the sun set. The second half is taking more about how it was a beautiful summer day, but it was also very sad at the same time.
I also think he is saying that to some people the ocean or sea is a very old experience and has already been explored, and to others it is a new place to explore and learn about. Some people may see history the same way. There are already a lot of things that we do know about; however, there are some things that we are completely unsure about and are interested to learn more.
Biography
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote lyric poems. These poems often told stories of mythology and legend.